Category: Uncategorized
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MY GRIDIRON DAZE
What I learned from football . . . the good, the bad, and the ugly It was an overcast November day in 1947. My dad Mack Mulkey, a student on the G.I. Bill at Southern Methodist University, was bursting with pride as we made our way to our bleacher seats at SMU’s Ownby Stadium for…
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We are the ones we’ve been waiting for
Fifty-seven years ago, I traveled from Tennessee to Washington, D.C. to join a protest against the war in Vietnam. My housing had been prearranged; the group I was traveling with would be staying with a family of Quakers. The weather that weekend in November tested our resolve: bone-chilling temperatures and a strong wind out of…
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Shonnie turns 50 on December 28!
Today, December 28, 2021, Shonnie Lyn Lavender celebrates her 50th birthday–half a century! And to commemorate this milestone event, you are invited to share a memory, what you love about Shonnie, and/or your birthday wish for her. You can share your message to Shonnie in the comments section, and be sure to include a photo…
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When Brucie Met Shonnie
Shonnie Lavender turns 50 years of age on December 28, and we’ve been together for approximately half of those five decades. In honor of Shonnie’s milestone birthday, I’m reposting my personal essay “When Brucie Met Shonnie.” And I’m inviting you to help Shonnie celebrate her 50 spins around the sun. Message me, and I’ll tell…
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My Gridiron Daze
What I learned from football . . . the good, the bad, and the ugly
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My Cat Chocolate
Chocolate came bounding into the world in Arlington, Texas in 1988, and from early on, it was obvious that this kitty had a mind of her own, a common trait of all felines, but especially pronounced in this energetic little bundle of fluffy black fur.
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Will we have the courage to break the cycle of violence?
We have been given an awesome opportunity, a test that requires great courage and a willingness to face reality. In the aftermath of the terrible deaths of almost three thousand people and the destruction of national icons, what will we do? How will we be? Will we be willing to break the cycle of vengeance…
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Neither Black Nor White
A largely overlooked book by Wilma Dykeman and her husband James Stokely made a powerful plea for racial justice in 1957.
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The Day My World Transformed
On the last Wednesday of November in 1953, my fifth-grade classmates and I were all dressed as Pilgrims or Native Americans, costumes for the Thanksgiving skit we’d enthusiastically performed that morning in front of the entire elementary school. Later in the day, everyone in our class was given an opportunity to present the watercolor painting…
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Message to Asheville City Council members re police violence
I am deeply disturbed by the recent violence perpetrated by officers of the Asheville Police Department, especially their harsh treatment of medics and the destruction of their medical supplies on the evening of June 2.